Alabama

The Alabama Department of Transportation is anticipating construction of a replacement bridge on Highway 25 between Vincent and Harpersville in Shelby County to start in 30 to 45 days and reach completion in about 18 months. (Martin J. Reed / mreed@al.com)

VINCENT, Alabama -- The Alabama Department of Transportation is in the process of replacing the narrow bridge on Highway 25 between Vincent and Harpersville in Shelby County with a wider, safer crossing.

The state agency has awarded the project's low bid of roughly $4.82 million to Newell & Bush Inc. of Montgomery. Construction should begin in about 30 to 45 days with the project taking about 18 months to complete.

No detours are expected during the construction process that will provide a new crossing over the CSX railroad line. The bridge located just south of Vincent Elementary School falls along the highly traveled route also known as State Road 53 and U.S. Highway 231.

Vincent Mayor Ray McAllister in an interview this morning said the narrow bridge has been in place since he came to the area in the late '60s.

"It's been a little narrow bridge for years and years. We've been very fortunate no one has been killed there, but there have been some nasty wrecks, mostly trucks," he said. "It's just an old, old bridge and not built for the kind of traffic we have today."

McAllister recalled meetings about the bridge replacement project that happened around eight years ago. "It's been eight or nine years. They've had some different delays of trying to get things put together," he said.

Motorists who travel along the roadway will benefit from the new bridge, which will eliminate the curve in the roadway on the crossing's south end, McAllister said.

"When you're coming in from Harpersville, you dogleg to the left. The new bridge is going to be much straighter," he said. "It'll be much straighter. It'll be much wider. It'll be great."